Cultivating an Attitude of Becoming

Staci, a kindergarten teacher I worked with, had an exceptionally challenging class. A five-year-old with an oppositional defiant disorder; another with severe ADHD; one who was non-verbal. And the list didn’t stop there. Although there were moments of frustration, Staci consistently met the challenge with a Zen-like attitude: “How will this help me grow? What can I learn from it?”  Because of her attitude of becoming, Staci was able to support students during melt-downs, redirect inappropriate behavior with firmness and compassion, and build a safe environment of participation in her classroom. When Staci and I met, our curiosity gave us an orientation of becoming toward both Staci and her students, and it helped us approach uncertainty more positively.

As we build on strengths and shore up areas of weakness, as we visualize and celebrate successes and approach challenges with curiosity, we are cultivating an attitude of becoming in ourselves and those we work with. We coach toward potentiality and build toward the coaches and teachers we will eventually be. This is an attitude of becoming.
 
Becoming means developing, ripening, emerging, or enhancing. Becoming assumes a changing into and moving toward. As we encourage teachers to look at changes and challenges as opportunities for growth, we are supporting becoming. Without an attitude of becoming, we may remain stagnant. Stuck. Unmoving.
 
As a new school year gets underway, it may be helpful to think about change as a process of becoming. Just as a rose bud is becoming a full-flowered rose, we, and the teachers we work with, are capable of blossoming into something even better than our current teaching selves. What changes are you, and the teachers at your school, opening to? How will you support that unfolding? How will you share with teachers a view of change as reaching toward desired potential? Viewing change in the positive light of becoming is a hopeful view for the future. 

What are you becoming today?

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
Incorporating art in the high-school language arts classroom:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/reading-pictures-in-high-school/
 
 
Tips for building coach-teacher relationships:
 
https://blog.tcea.org/relationship-building/
Tips for new (or reminders for returning) coaches:
 
https://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/4-tips-new-instructional-coaches/
 
 
Coaching about classroom culture:
 
https://studysites.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v10.1.htm
 
 
This podcast about how new teachers can find great mentors:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/podcast-43
 
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
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